Introduction

Ile Sainte Marie, Madagascar

Madagascar’s Ile Sainte Marie – the secret of Blackbeard’s success?

Join us on an MSC Cruises’ South Africa cruise holiday and visit the tropical paradise of Ile Sainte Marie. It was once home to the pirate Blackbeard, and when you take in its lush forests, coral reefs and endless miles of palm-fringed beaches, you will see why he was able to attract so many wives.
Also known as Nosy Baraha, it’s a narrow island located off the east coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and a neighbour to Nosy Be Island, one of the ports of call for MSC cruise liners.

Like Madagascar, Ile Sainte Marie is characterised by its stunning natural beauty. You will find miles of sandy beaches shaded by coconut palms, bays and coves full of coral reefs, lush green hills and forests alive with the sound of waterfalls, exotic birds and lemurs.

Nature lovers will be in their element here, and you can leave your cruise ship for the day to enjoy one of our excursions that cover the best the island has to offer.

From spotting humpback whales (July to October) to seeking out rare orchids in their native habitat (including the Queen of Madagascar), taking a boat trip out to the nearby Ile aux Nattes (also known as the Ile aux Sables), and enjoying some world class diving, snorkelling, or a glass-bottom boat ride.

Whichever you choose you’ll definitely be aha!-ing, just like Blackbeard whom you can visit in the must-see pirate cemetery on Rogue Bay, along with the notorious William Kidd. See you there, me hearties.

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Plane

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Madagascar

A cruise to Madagascar in search of the unusual and exotic rarely disappoints. This giant, verdant laboratory of evolutionary theory has been separated from mainland Africa for long enough to have given rise to an astonishing array of endemic flora and fauna.

Many of its native species are frankly bizarre, from immaculately camouflaged geckos to luridly coloured chameleons and frogs. Stars of a holiday to Madagascar, and the creatures that everyone wants to see, are the beady-eyed, cuddly-looking, acrobatic lemurs.

Even the landscapes are somewhat weird – travel widely, and you’ll marvel at Madagascar’s strange, jagged pinnacles, lumpy hills and bulbous-trunked baobabs. Malagasy culture is highly distinctive, too. Many of the linguistic and ritual customs of the first islanders, who were Malay-Polynesian, remain today. Visitors will often hear talk of fady, meaning taboo – actions which should be avoided for fear of offending the ancestors and throwing the natural world out of balance.

Pointing at sacred objects or bathing in certain rivers, for example, are fady. Being mindful of such conventions will earn you respect and is crucial if you’re invited to a traditional ritual such as Famadihana, the Turning of the Bones.